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 Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:20 pm
Shisa was not having a particularly happy morning, her brothers seemed to enjoy getting on her nerves. Perhaps she was just a bit oversensitive and cranky, but it got busy when you had eight siblings in one den for too long. So the small dark female had been the first to leave to find something more worthwhile and interesting to do. When she couldn't find anything immediately, she just wandered at random, exploring. She hopped proudly along in the sand, pleased to have finally mastered the art of walking on the sand.
Or so she thought until she slid to the ground and landed with a soft thump. She frowned, but at least the sand wasn't so bad to land on. And, she glanced around, no one was watching anyway.
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:27 pm
The female had been getting accustomed to the lands, making her way around the dens and getting the scents of the new members. Whenever another saw her, she would silently gaze at them with her blood red eyes before turning, and walking away. In fact, she had done just that, and wandered off into the sands, following a curious track of small paw prints.
As she moved over the dune, she caught sight of a small black cub, and caught a sort of dejavu. Before her, she saw her old son, Ra, one who was lost to her now. Shaking her head, she recognized her mistake, and stood to watch the actions of the little one. Kidondo was right, there were many cubs to fill the lands yet again.
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:33 pm
Shisa got to her feet and shook the sand from her dark fur. That was the main downside to when she fell now, her fur was dark and sand was sticky and pale. If she wasn't careful, her accident would be visible on her belly. Getting distracted by this and cleaning the sand from her fur, she ended up back on the sand, flopped over and cleaning out the grains from between her orange toes. It was several seconds before she spotted the dark red lioness standing nearby, and when she did, she quickly twisted around and pushed herself up off the sand. Then she only stared back. It wasn't a lioness she recognized, but she had the look of a pridemember and no outsider would get this far into the lands anyway. But that didn't mean she was going to just march up.
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:37 pm
Nuri hid her amusement, which she always did, at the nature of the cub, before shaking her head when the girl finally spotted her. That would not do at all, though the lioness had to admit the cub was still young. There was plenty of time to train her to become the warriors that the sands were known for.
When the stand down occurred, Nuri was surprised at the stare she was given, the guts that the youth showed. Though there was surprise, it was not much for the elder lioness worked hard to never be caught off guard. It just happened that there was more to the cub than she had first caught on to.
"You there...cub...who are your parents?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:56 pm
Always trying to make a good impression, Shisa was not pleased to have been interrupted in such a comfortable situation. But then, she didn't know who this was or how worried she should be about that anyway. She stared, moving no closer even when she was spoken to. She instead attempted to speak loud enough so that she could be heard from where she was.
"My name is Shisa," she introduced herself emphatically, hoping to replace the nasty call of 'cub', "My parents are Wakia and Umlilo. Who are you?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:03 pm
She eyed her slowly, before deciding to take her own steps closer. Giving a looming sense, she looked down upon the cub and studied the markings, realizing she had no idea who the parents were. Not that it mattered, in fact Nuri didn't care who she knew or didn't as long as they knew her.
"I am Nuri...a lioness from long ago, when the blood was pure and the pride great. It is I who assisted Kidondo to help create a pride strong and great. One you will soon help continue, young one. I have been gone and have returned to study the pride."
She paused in her speech, her voice emotionless and her eyes gazing past Shisa a moment before looking back to the girl yet again.
"What do you think of your home...young one?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:25 pm
At the approach of the older lioness, Shisa fought the urge to step back. She had an ego but she wasn't stupid, she was a cub whether or not that was what she wanted to be called and she knew a cub had no chance against.. anyone much bigger than them really. The comment about being from when the blood was pure and the pride was great did make her step back, she knew enough recent history to know that there were still firekin who were unimpressed with the whole situation. It was an unusual comment to make- but she almost canceled it out saying she helped the regent. Almost.
She wasn't sure what she was supposed to think about this lioness or this conversation. Her gaze was unusual, her tone less than welcoming and the question seemed almost like a trick. Shisa glanced around, trying to put her opinion to words.
"It's not easy, not just anybody could be here," she said decidedly, meaning much more than was explicitly indicated by the words. She put her head up and narrowed her eyes slightly. This wasn't much for casual interaction.
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:29 pm
"Ah yes...but you are here...you survive here..."
Nuri could tell the creature was surprised, but than again many didn't know about the past, the times well before the issues arose. It was that reason she worked so hard to create a new pride to the best of her ability.
"That is what makes our pride so great...the passion to live...the strength to survive. We are not all about big bodies and strong muscles. We are filled with intelligence that many outside of these lands has no idea about."
It was weird, Nuri suddenly thought, to be placed in the same situation she had been in so long ago, with a cub that would listen. That is, if Shisa was even listening. That thought almost made her chuckle.
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:43 pm
Shisa offered a partial nod at the response she got. It seemed she had given a suitable answer, which made her rather pleased with herself. She had never seen an outsider for herself, but she was certain they would be most recognizable for pelt color and weaker frames and.. smaller heads, or whatever might tip off to the inferior intelligence. She smirked, imagining small, bright blue lions with tiny heads wandering around, sliding on the sand much more than she ever had.
"If you're so important," she started, tilting her head and turning the conversation back on Nuri, "How come I've never seen you before?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:47 pm
Nuri let out a short chuckle, the laugh low and rumbling, as a smirk showed across her maw. The first in days, it always felt weird, and she sent it away with a flick of her tail. After another second, she settled on her haunches, before sliding to her belly to ease some of the tension.
"I ask myself why I continued to leave the lands...I came up with many reasons. Dissatisfaction...hunger to find something more...and than I had to search for my son, one of the few dreamers who deserved to see the lands prosper once again. When he was your age...he dreamed of a strong future in the lands. I had to help him see that future had come."
"Kidondo knew I would be back..."
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:56 pm
The cub's nose wrinkled and she didn't bother hiding the face she made when Nuri laughed, smirked and then quickly went back to looking like she could only be serious. It was a very strange behavior, or so Shisa thought anyway. Her yellow eyes followed Nuri as she slid to the sand, and then went back to Nuri's face as she.. explained why she hadn't been spotted around before now.
"You left?" she blinked, glanced to the side and back again, "Where did you go? What's out there?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 6:14 pm
Blinking, Nuri wondered why the cub was interested, but than realized that a story of the colorful world was something all wished about. It was a dangerous topic, because it could encourage others to leave. But than again, education was always the best.
"There are many things out there...Nothing like the sands we live on...and a lion needs to be trained to take on any terrain. I left to a deathly land much like the sands, only softer and darker, where I raised my cubs. But the sands are my home, and nothing could keep me away."
She paused a moment, watching the reaction before continuing on.
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 6:36 pm
Shisa was merely curious, she had no desire to leave the sands- no matter how frustrating it was to walk on the sand, it was a challenge and she had her pride. There was no doubt in her mind of the superiority of the Firekin, but as she grew older she wanted more information and more proof. And there was genuine wonder because the desert was known for not be an easy environment to live in- what else was out there that made it so easy? She was, actually, a thinker. Her curiosity surprised even her, but she did not show it.
"Softer and darker," she repeated, looking down at her paw and the sand. She spread out her toes, wondering what exactly was softer than their home. Dark she could imagine, the sun and vast open lands of the deserts were very bright. Hm!
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 6:43 pm
"Yes...and than some places are filled with water that rests in the air...though I found no interest in those lands...it leaves your pelt damp and heavy."
She shook her head at the thought, but than continued on, "I don't know many of the lions who are here, but most were not born in the sands. Though all have shown the strength to survive in our home."
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 6:58 pm
The cub's eyes did not return to Nuri, though she was very clearly listening to what was said. She kept her eyes on her toes as the lioness described a place with so much water.. Shisa glanced at her paw and over her back subconsciously, watching her tail flick once before looking back ahead and muttering an 'ew'.
Shisa finally looked back up at Nuri when she commented on how many of the lions here now had no been born in the desert but had proven themselves. She knew her parents were born here, they were the ones who gave the history lessons, however brief and vague at times.
"Hm," she snorted thoughtfully, having nothing to add now. It was much easier to get a conversation from a lion not swarmed with other cubs trying to get their attention, but she wasn't used to it. Especially such unusual topics. A cubs attention and creative thinking for such things was limited, no matter how genuinely interested she might be.
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